In the prior art, nail polish is typically applied to finger and toe nails using a brush. Traditionally, nail polish is provided in jar containers, and a fiber brush that is attached to a plastic stick is used to apply the nail polish to nails. Such nail polish is typically a very thick, viscous, solvent-based solution. The process of applying nail polish in this traditional manner is very time consuming. The viscosity of such nail polish typically causes a large amount of nail polish to attach to the brush. Thus, when the brush is dipped into a jar of nail polish, the brush typically receives more nail polish than is required. Being unable to effectively control such a large amount of polish in applying it to a nail, the user typically tries to reduce the amount of excess nail polish on the brush by scraping the brush against the opening edge of the jar. However, if the user scrapes off too much nail polish, the polish will streak when applied to the user's nail or will provide insufficient covering. Thus, care must be taken in obtaining just the right amount of nail polish on the brush.
Brush thickness also contributes to the inconvenience of applying traditional nail polish. Because of the thickness of brushes typically used for applying nail polish, such brushes cannot be applied against the user's cuticle without getting unwanted polish on the cuticle. Instead, care and skill must be utilized to apply pressure on the bristles of a brush against the user's nail to force polish up to the edge of the cuticle. Thus, by pressing the brush against the user's nail, a "wave" or "ridge" of polish can be pushed up to the edge of the user's cuticle. This is the accepted, traditional technique for applying nail polish to a nail using the traditional brush applicator. This technique requires that a certain care and skill be utilized by the user to obtain the desired result. Using the prior art brush to apply nail polish up to the edge of the cuticle without actually getting nail polish on the cuticle is a very delicate process. If the user makes a mistake and places nail polish on the cuticle, nail polish remover must be applied to remove the unwanted polish. Removing such unwanted polish from the cuticle without placing any nail polish remover on the surface of the user's nail is also a very tedious process. In attempting to remove the polish from the cuticle, a user will often inadvertently apply nail polish remover to the surface of the user's nail, and thus ruin the desired finish. Accordingly, a user will often be required to remove the nail polish completely and begin again the process of applying polish to the user's nail.
As described above, because of the nature of the prior art applicator brush and nail polish, a user is required to employ a very methodical, slow, deliberate, delicate, cautious technique in applying nail polish to the user's nails. Such a technique is very time consuming. Furthermore, considering that a user often is required to remove polish and start the process over in order to correct mistakes, the prior art technique for applying nail polish becomes even more time consuming. Additionally, applying a first coat of nail polish utilizing a prior art applicator brush and nail polish often results in an undesirable finish. That is, the nail polish may have ridges, streaking, or thin spots in color on the surface of the user's nails. As a result, a user is often required to apply multiple coats of nail polish to achieve a desired finish. Thus, a user is required to wait for the first coat to dry and then utilize the above-described technique to apply an additional coat. Applying multiple coats of polish increases the amount of time necessary to obtain a desired finish for the nail polish.
Prior art nail polish has traditionally been packaged in vials or jars of various shapes and sizes. Such containers typically provide approximately 1/2 ounce in volume of nail polish. Because of the various shapes of the prior art nail polish jars, it is typically difficult to extract all of the nail polish from the jars using the traditional applicator brush. Generally, the applicator brush must be inserted vertically into the nail polish jar. Because of the difficulty in getting the brush to reach locations of the jar where nail polish resides, a user typically rotates the container to various positions in order to direct nail polish to the tip of the brush. Thus, the shape of most prior art containers make it very difficult to access all of the nail polish.
Additionally, because of the nature of prior art nail polish, it dries out quickly. That is, prior art nail polish is viscous and generally contains drying agents to decrease the amount of time that it takes for the polish to dry after it is applied to a user's nail, causing it to dry out quickly. Therefore, if the nail polish container is open for an extended period of time, the nail polish tends to harden. Moreover, this hardening process typically occurs even when the container has remained closed because the typical nail polish container is not perfectly air tight. As the nail polish hardens, it becomes gummy, gooey, and unusable. This hardening characteristic of prior art nail polish is particularly problematic given the fact that applying such prior art nail polish is typically a very time consuming process, as discussed above, and the user typically maintains an inventory of different colors which are used relatively infrequently. Accordingly, a prior art container of nail polish typically spoils or hardens to a point that it is unuseable long before a user can deplete the entire container. Therefore, much of the prior art nail polish is typically wasted.
Some types of prior art nail polish, generally referred to as "quick drying nail polish," contain additional drying agents that decrease the amount of time necessary for the polish to dry after applying it to a nail. However, such quick drying nail polish still does not dry quickly enough to recognize a substantial difference in the amount of time required in the application process. Moreover, quick drying nail polish typically does not bond with the nail particularly well, often resulting in chipping. Typically, within two days of applying such quick drying nail polish a user is required to "touch-up" the user's nail polish because the polish does not bond to the user's nail and chips off. Accordingly, this may actually increase the total amount of time spent on applying and touching-up a user's nail polish over the long run. Furthermore, the additional chemicals utilized in quick drying nail polish may irritate and dry-out the nail and the surrounding skin.
Moreover, it is very difficult to perform touch-ups utilizing prior art applicators and nail polish. Prior art nail polish typically does not blend or bond very well with previously applied polish. As a result, a touch-up typically results in a variance in the coloration and texture of the nail polish. That is, the color applied in a touch-up typically does not blend with the color of the previously applied nail polish. Also, it is very difficult to fill in a chipped nail surface through performing a touch-up and achieve a uniform, smooth surface.
Prior art nail polish is typically available in a variety of finishes, including matte, gloss, pearl, pearlescent, glitter, and protectant finishes. A matte finish is very versatile and may be made into a variety of other types of finishes by applying a desired finish on top of the matte finish. That is, once a matte finish is applied to a nail, it may be made into a desired finish, such as gloss or glitter, by applying a clear coat of the desired finish formula after the matte finish has been applied. However, other types of finishes are less versatile and may be incapable of being converted into a desired finish. For example, a gloss finish cannot be made into a matte finish. As another example, a glitter finish cannot be made into a plain gloss finish or a matte finish. Thus, if a user desires the option of having a particular color in a gloss, glitter, and matte finish, the user may purchase three different products of the same color. As a result, a user may purchase multiple formulations of the same color of nail polish. Thereafter, if the user desires to have a different color in gloss, glitter and matte finishes, the user may purchase three additional products of that color (i.e., one product for each desired finish). Therefore, to have a desirable number of finishing options and colors available to a user, a user may obtain many different finishes, each in variety of different colors.
Additionally, prior art nail coloring products are typically solvent-based formulas that utilize numerous toxic chemicals that are hazardous to a user's health and to the environment. For example, prior art nail coloring products typically contain formaldehyde and toluene. Toluene, which is an aromatic solvent, is particularly hazardous in that it is a known carcinogen. These and other chemicals utilized in prior art nail coloring products are highly toxic and present a danger to a user's health if ingested or inhaled. As a result, prior art nail polish is especially problematic for small children who may ingest the harmful product.
Also existing in the prior art are various pens, markers, highlighters, and other writing utensils. Typically, such writing utensils have a long barrel with a nib on one end of the barrel for marking. Such prior art writing utensils are intended for writing, drawing, and otherwise marking on various surfaces. However, such writing utensils have not been adapted to apply nail polish and are not readily useable for that task. First, the various nibs available on such writing utensils are generally not user-friendly for applying nail polish. That is, some markers have felt tips, which are generally wide and produce a wide mark. Such wide-tip markers are difficult to use on a nail without inadvertently marking on areas around the nail, such as the cuticle. Other nibs used for various writing utensils have fine points of varying degrees. The fine points utilized by most writing utensils are rounded to a point that is too fine for efficiently applying nail polish. Writing utensils with rounded, fine points are only able to make small lines on a nail, causing the application process to take a long time and resulting in a streaked effect.
Moreover, the ink used by various writing utensils is not readily adaptable for use as a nail polish. Generally, the ink used by writing utensils does not provide the desired color opacity that is produced by a nail coloring product, such as traditional nail polish. Some ink produces a "staining" of the nail, as opposed to being a surface coating like traditional nail polish. Additionally, some ink does not bond with a nail, which results in the ink being easily rubbed off or smeared, or the ink may simply produce "beads" of ink on the nail. The coating effect of traditional nail polish serves to provide support and protect nails. However, merely staining the nail or applying ink that does not bond with a nail does not provide such support or protection for nails. Replacing the traditional ink used in such writing utensils with prior art nail polish has also not been a viable alternative because of the viscosity of prior art nail polish. That is, prior art nail polish is generally too viscous to flow effectively through the nibs of prior art writing utensils.
Also available in the prior art is a "paint pen" manufactured by the Hunt Corporation. Such a pen has a long barrel that contains non-toxic paint used for art projects. The pen further has two nib options, a relatively thick, rounded, polyester nib, and a chiseled, polyester nib, both of which are used to apply the paint. The pen also has a valve that forms a seal preventing the paint from inadvertently leaking out of the pen. The valve and nib are aligned such that when sufficient inward pressure is applied to the nib it causes the valve to open, allowing paint to flow from the barrel of the pen to the nib. The paint pen has the appearance of a thick magic marker, and has typically been provided as a "clean" utensil for children to use in creating art projects. That is, the paint pen is less messy for art projects than the paint and brushes traditionally used for such art projects.
However, the paint pen has not been adapted for applying nail polish and without substantial modifications, the paint pen is not an effective utensil for nail painting. The primary problems with using the prior art paint pen for nail painting reside within the design of the pen's nib. First, both the rounded and chiseled nibs are too thick or "fat" to have the precision necessary to apply paint up to the edge of a nail's cuticle without inadvertently applying paint on the cuticle. Moreover, the large, magic marker appearance of the prior art paint pen does not conform to the generally sleek appearance of beauty products. Lastly, the prior art does not contemplate the process of applying a solvent based finish over previously applied aqueous color, which is necessary to provide a desired finish and necessary durability. Thus, the prior art paint pen has not provided a viable alternative for applying nail paint, absent substantial, non-obvious modifications.
Additionally, pen-like nail polish applicators have been developed in the prior art, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,571. However, the nib design and polish formula utilized in such prior art applicators have not proven successful in applying nail polish to a nail. More specifically, traditional nail polish is much too viscous to effectively flow through such a pen-like applicator. Prior art attempts have been made to utilize a nail polish having a viscosity sufficiently low to allow the polish to flow through the applicator to a nail. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,571 discloses a solvent-based, lacquer nail polish having a viscosity not greater than 200 centipoise (cps). However, prior art attempts have been unsuccessful in providing a quality nail polish that may be applied easily and effectively using a pen-like applicator. One problem with prior art nail polish capable of being utilized in a pen-like applicator is that such nail polish has been less durable than desired. That is, such nail polish typically chips or cracks a short time after being applied to a nail. Additionally, the nib provided in such prior art applicators is too soft to be utilized for delivering an aqueous color solution, and the nib has not been shaped or configured to allow easy, effective application of an aqueous color solution to a nail.